Air Liquide, partners open pilot hydrogen plant in Denmark

September 4 (Renewables Now) - French industrial gases group Air Liquide SA (EPA:AI) on Monday opened a pilot facility for the production of carbon-free hydrogen in Hobro, Denmark.

The EUR-15-million (USD 17.4m) project, called HyBalance and initiated in 2016, produces hydrogen from water electrolysis, enabling the storage of renewable electricity from wind turbines and helping to balance the grid.

The project is led by Air Liquide and also involves Hydrogenics, NEAS Energy, LBST and Hydrogen Valley/CEMTEC. It has received funding from the European public-private partnership Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) and the Danish EUDP (Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme) programme.

Air Liquide developed, built and is operating the facility that includes a 1.2-MW electrolyser, the company said. The hydrogen produced is supplied to industrial customers and to a network of five hydrogen stations installed and operated by the Copenhagen Hydrogen Network (CHN), a subsidiary of Air Liquide in Denmark, a country that generates a substantial part of its electricity from wind turbines.

According to Francois Darchis, senior vice-president and member of the Air Liquide Group executive committee, supervising Innovation, hydrogen holds "a tremendous potential to support energy transition."